Former Australian Aboriginal World Champion Boxer Lionel Rose Dies

Lionel Rose, the first Australian Aboriginal to win a boxing world title, has passed away at the age of 62. Rose became an overnight sensation and Australian hero after he won the world title in 1968.

Lionel Rose, an icon of Australia's Aboriginal people who gained widespread fame after winning a world boxing title, died on Sunday, age 62. Rose was the first Aboriginal to be named "Australian of the Year."

Rose became a major symbol and morale boost for Aborigines in 1968, after winning the world bantam weight boxing title in Tokyo.